Mathematics at the 2009 National SACNAS Conference

The 2009 National Conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) was held in Dallas, Texas, October 15-18. The theme was Improving the Human Condition: Challenges for Interdisciplinary Science. The conference featured keynote speakers, sessions and symposia, awards, undergraduate poster presentations, graduate oral presentations, mentoring, and social events--and mathematics was a significant component of the program.

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) was among the conference session sponsors and was among the over 200 exhibitors--institutes, colleges, universities, associations, hospitals, government agencies--that provided information about educational programs and career opportunities in the sciences. Generous support from the National Security Agency (NSA) allowed many math students to attend the conference.

The CONVERSATIONS WITH SCIENTISTS - MATHEMATICS SECTION on Thursday evening drew about 100 students and mentors (left and below). Both undergraduates and graduates from colleges and universities around the country gathered to discuss mathematics, courses, graduate programs and careers in the mathematical sciences. There was a mentor at each table to answer questions and guide the discussions.

WHO WANTS TO BE A MATHEMATICIAN

The Who Wants to Be a Mathematician game was again a popular event. Nearly 1,000 attended the breakfast to see six undergraduates compete for prizes. Cory Colbert of Virginia Commonwealth University won US$2000 from the AMS and a TI-Nspire graphing calculator from Texas Instruments. Pictured above are Cynthia Wood, University of California, San Diego, second-place winner; Cory Colbert, Grand Prize winner; and Mike Breen, game emcee and AMS Public Awareness Officer.

Many of the mathematics undergraduate students took the qualifying test for the game at the Conversations With Scientists gathering the prior evening.

Sarah Mena, Clemson University, won a Graduate Oral Symposia awards sponsored by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), for "SULFUR-IODINE CYCLE: PHASE EQUILIBRIUM DATA FOR THE TERNARY IODINE-WATER-HI AND THE BINARY IODINE-WATER SYSTEMS"

Juliet Portillo, San Francisco State University, won a Graduate Oral Symposia award sponsored by the NSF Mathematical Sciences Institutes, for "EXPLORING DNA UNKNOTTING BY TYPE II TOPOISOMERASES: A STUDY OF WRITHE"

The AMS EXHIBIT drew undergraduate and graduate students, mathematicians, and teachers. AMS Public Awareness Officers Mike Breen and Annette Emerson answered questions about the Society's programs and services, graduate school programs and careers in mathematics.